Wednesday, October 11, 2017

San Diego vacation day 1 of 5. Breakfast: Before I awoke Patrick got a free coffee from the kitchen downstairs because the hotel's cafe had opened late. A little later he revisited the café and got a blueberry muffin and a cherry danish. I ate leftovers with leftover iced tea. Packed. Checked out and dropped our bags for storage at the bellhop. Rode Lyft to Downtown Disney. Watched Kingsmen: The Golden Circle at AMC Downtown Disney 12. Lunch at Tortilla Jo's: For Patrick: two-item combo: crispy chicken taco, pork tamale, agua fresca tamarindo. For me: Tacos Governador (two house made corn tortilla filled with Mexican shrimp, pico de gallo, Monterey Jack cheese and jalapeno slaw), iced tea. Rode Lyft to the DoubleTree. Picked up our luggage. Rode Lyft to ARTIC (Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center). Waited about 30 minutes for our train to arrive. Boarded the business class car—first car behind the engine. The upper floor did not have two empty and adjacent seats, so we sat on the lower floor. Rode the 4:47 pm Amtrak Surfliner from Anaheim (ANA) south one way to San Diego Old Town (OLT). Our ticket said it was train 582 but the displays at the station said it was train 782—this was very confusing. The train ride is smooth. In business class we received complimentary snacks and drinks, including white (chardonnay) or red (cabernet) wine. Patrick chose water. I chose the cabernet (Robert Mondavi Woodbridge, 2016). Snacks included: sea salt pita chips and hummus, roasted and salted almonds and cashews with cranberries, mini chocolate chip cookies, and a piece of salt water taffy. The train ride was spectacular, with much of the journey alongside the ocean with grand views. We watched the sunset over the Pacific at Solana Beach. We arrived at Old Town around 6:45 pm. Rode Lyft to Alcazar Court. Dinner at Urban Mo's with Patrick: skinny chick burger and kick ass margarita (sauza commemorativo, triple sec, blue curacao, sweet and sour, splash of orange juice, lemon-lime soda) for Patrick, carnitas quesadilla and pink flamingo (svedka strawberry lemonade, pink lemonade, soda water) for me. Watched Superstore s3:e2 on Hulu with Patrick.